1. Field of the Invention:
The present invention relates to rotisseries and, in particular to a barbecue apparatus in which food is adapted to be mounted and rotated above a source of heat.
2. Description of the Prior Art:
Food, such as meat to be grilled, is generally placed on a spit which is rotatable to expose the meat to the heat in order to insure uniform cooking of the same. In cooking large or whole pieces of meat, such as a pig roast or a large side of beef, the spit may not be capable of rotatably supporting the meat to be grilled because of its shape. In many situations, the spit is provided with forks that are carried thereon and which pierce the opposite ends of the meat; however, after a considerable amount of rotation of the spit, the forks sometimes break loose of the meat and the meat fails to rotate, thus causing uneven heating and cooking of the same. Additionally, because the meat must be pierced through by the spit, an undue amount of the meat juices are lost during the cooking process, thus causing the meat to be unnecessarily dry.
In my issued U.S. Pat. No. 4,505,195, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference, I disclose a novel rotisserie which completely overcomes the aforementioned problems. The rotisserie includes a cradle for supporting food to be cooked. The cradle comprises a pair of end plates with a plurality of longitudinally disposed rod members extending therebetween. The end plates each have a plurality of radially disposed slots. Control plates are rotatably mounted with respect to the end plates and are provided with a plurality of spiral shaped slots. Each of the plurality of rods extends through one radial slot in each end plate and one spiral rod in each control plate. The rods are movable within the slots as the plates are rotated with respect to each other such that the radial and angular position of the clamping rods with respect to the axis of rotation of the cradle may be selectively and independently varied along the length of the cradle. Thus, the longitudinally disposed rods may be selectively positioned at radial distances from the axis of rotation to clamp the meat to be cooked within the cradle. In order to lock the control plates with respect to the end plates at the pre-selected position, a simple lock pin is disclosed which extends through a single aperture disposed in the control plate and through one of a plurality of spaced apertures disposed around the periphery of the end plates.
The lock pin disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,505,195 suffers from certain deficiencies in use. While the lock pin functions effectively to lock the position of the plates with respect to each other, it is somewhat difficult to both remove and install, particularly if the position of the rods must be changed during use, during which time the whole rotisserie is very hot. Additionally, the control plates must be rotated manually in order to align the apertures. This is somewhat difficult to do since the apertures are fairly small, and since no means is disclosed for rotating the control plates. Again, the problem is even more acute when the rotisserie is in use and is hot. Another problem with use of the lock pin disclosed in the above-referenced patent is that it is quite small and is a separate structure from the rest of the rotisserie. Hence, it is quite easy for the lock pin to become separated from the rotisserie and lost.
Thus, it would be desirable to provide an easy and efficient way of positioning the control plates with respect to the end plates, even while the rotisserie is in use.
It would also be desirable to provide a means of securely locking the position of the plates with respect to each other which is permanently mounted on the rotisserie and is not a separate member.
It would be highly desirable to provide a locking means permanently mounted to the rotisserie which also serves as a positioning means.